Impressive GP3 podium for Richard Verschoor at Sochi

Richard Verschoor impressed in his third GP3 weekend of his career. After a flawless race at Sochi Autodrom on Sunday he finished in third place. On saturday he managed to finish fourth overall after an impressive performance. This was only his third racing weekend in the GP3 Series and he was able to score championship points during all the different racing weekends. “I am very happy with these results. Not only for myself but also for the team and for everyone who contributed,” says a very happy Richard Verschoor.

Round eight of the GP3 Series was held on Sochi Autodrom in Russia and was one of the support races of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia. For MP Motorsport driver Richard Verschoor this was only his third appearance in the prestigieus series. In 2014 he made his Formula 4 debut at Sochi Autodrom in which he scored his first overall victory in open seaters.

During qualification Verschoor immediately showed his talent by missing the pole position time by only 0.2 of a second. Starting race one from seventh position Verschoor lost one position direct after the start. After that he kept his head cool and managed to overtake several opponents on a very impressive way. He was able to close the gap to number two and three but there was not enough time left to overtake these competitors. Even a second best time of the race wasn’t enough to climb to the podium and Verschoor had to settle for a very impressive fourth place overall.

Because of the reverse grid of the top eight finishers in race one, Verschoor had to start from fifth place for the second race of the weekend. He overtook number four of the race in the first lap and one lap later he was to able to climb up to third place. The rest of the race Verschoor managed to keep the difference between him and the driver behind him over a second but he couldn’t really fight for victory. In the end he finished third overall only one second behind the race winner and 0.4 second behind number two. Scoring his best result of the season so far Verschoor was able to score championship points in all his GP3 weekends.

“I am very happy with these results. During practise we were able to improve the car after every stint and finishing eighth overall in qualification was very cool. During the first race the car was incredible. I was able to push but in the same time I could save my tires. The car reacted exactly the way I wanted. In the second race I had some minor issues with the rear tires which kept me from pushing like I could in race one. To finish fourth and third in the GP3 Series is incredible. Not only for me but also for the team and everyone involved. It is great to see all those happy faces after a race. Also a big thankyou to all my sponsors and ofcourse my dad that kept believing in me even in this though year!’